Body found a decade ago in Arizona identified as drowned Memphis native

A tattoo dedicated to a childhood sweetheart and dogged detective work were keys to identifying a body found in Arizona 10 years ago as a man born and raised in Memphis.

The drowning victim was positively identified just days ago as Steven E. Wilson, a drifter with roots in the Bluff City. He was 39 at the time of his death.

After the body floated in water in an area known as "Bird Island" near Havasu Springs Resorts in western Arizona, the fingerprints of the victim found April 18, 2001, were only partly readable.

So, over the years and despite numerous attempts to identify him, this particular "John Doe" remained nameless in the files of La Paz County Sheriff's investigator Larry Kubacki.

The cold case got reopened again a few weeks ago.

That's when a relative of Steven Wilson read an article about the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, or NamUS, a new Department of Justice program set up to identify missing persons and nameless victims like Wilson. The family contacted Dr. Bruce Anderson, of the Pima County Forensic Science Center in Tucson, Ariz.

Dr. Anderson entered Wilson's name and date of birth, and the tattoo information into NamUS, which automatically cross matches various databases, searching for similarities.

The system found a Steven Wilson with a tattoo that read "Kathy" who had been in Arizona about the time the body was found.

Investigators then obtained a mug shot from North Carolina prison authorities of a Steven Wilson, which family members were able to identify.

Detectives used the partial fingerprints of the drowning victim, bolstered by the additional information, to make a positive identification.

Reached at his office Thursday in Parker, Ariz., Kubacki said solving the case was a load off his mind.

"You know there's a family out there.... These cases take a piece from you," Kubacki said. "Every now and then you get a piece back."

Nothing indicated Wilson's death was anything other than an accident, Kubacki said.

"Kathy," whose name was found on Wilson's left forearm, apparently was Wilson's childhood sweetheart in Memphis, investigators said. They were not able to provide her last name.

Attempts to reach Wilson's family, believed to be in Wisconsin, were unsuccessful.